Full Print Edition

JP Pets: MSPCA waives fee for older cat adoption

(Courtesy Photo) Precious, a senior cat up for adoption at the MSPCA on S. Huntington Ave.

Sometimes older siblings are ignored by parents who are doting on the newborn baby. The same dilemma strikes when people go to adopt cats, picking young kitties over seniors.

Because of that, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) center on S. Huntington Avenue is waiving the adoption fee, which is $95, for cats aged 9 years and older for first two weekends in July. That includes the cat being neutered, a microchip installed, immunization shots and a veterinarian exam.

The senior cats won’t be euthanized if they are not adopted during the promotion.

“It can be tough,” MSPCA spokesperson Rob Halpin said about finding someone to adopt senior cats.

He said a young, playful kitty can be expected to be adopted in a day or week, but a senior cat averages around two to three months for an adoption to take place. Halpin relayed an anecdote about a 9-year-old cat named Moon. The cat’s elderly owner died and it took six months to find someone to adopt Moon.

“That’s really difficult,” Halpin said about the extended stay for a cat to be institutionalized.

He said senior cats are calmer than kittens, are litter-box trained, “won’t eat Venetian curtains” and won’t wake up owners wanting to play in the middle of the night. Halpin said senior cats typically live easier with other cats and dogs.

Halpin said that MSPCA has about 50 to 75 senior cats at its JP location, but hundreds more at the centers in Methuen and Centerville.

The MSPCA is located at 350 S Huntington Ave. For more information, visit mspca.org or call 617-522-7400.

[This article has been updated to reflect that the normal adoption fee is $95 and that senior cats are 9 years and older. The MSPCA is not a “no kill shelter,” as it does euthanize animals, such as a dog that is too aggressive to be adopted. ]